


Unhappy Meal

by marklesparkle



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, i just miss jaemin ok :/, rated for language (as usual)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 08:03:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9312761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marklesparkle/pseuds/marklesparkle
Summary: Jaemin orders Jeno a Happy Meal to-go.





	

**Author's Note:**

> hi everyone! i haven't posted here in forever so here's a little drabble i wrote in one sitting (it's un-beta'd as of right now) to help break my writer's block! enjoy c:
> 
> note: the happy meals in this are based on the ones they had when i was a kid- or what i can remember of them!! :-)
> 
> note pt.2: i'll edit this later i know it's bad i just had to Get It Done ok,,!
> 
> note pt.3: shoutout to alexa nd naomi for hyping me up nd making me finish this!!!! ilu guys!!!!

“Oh, _come on_ , Jaemin,” Donghyuck snorts, barbarically wiping crumbs from his mouth with the back of his hand. “You’ve got to be shitting me.” Despite his efforts, he’d missed a few grains of salt on his chin and Jaemin fights the urge to laugh as he reverts his focus back to the conversation at hand and not on Donghyuck’s disgusting table-side manners.

Jaemin blinks. “What?”

In true Donghyuck style, the red head rolls his eyes and sighs in a way that oozes nothing but pure irritation at being asked to explain himself. “You really don’t know?” is his response, answering Jaemin’s question with another. _Typical_. He takes another handful of fries and languidly dips them into ketchup, tearing his gaze from Jaemin’s puzzled expression and the whispered “no” that leaves his lips.

Beside Donghyuck across the table is Mark who’s swift to throw an elbow at the nineteen-year-old shoveling fries in his mouth’s ribs. Jaemin’s never been in on their weird telepathy that’d been going on since long before he’d met the pair but it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out the exasperated look Mark is throwing Donghyuck all but screams _shut up._

Donghyuck clearly doesn’t get the message because he continues on, ignoring Mark and putting down his half-assed meal in favor of messing with the youngest of the three. “So, you’re telling me you _genuinely_ think Jeno’s funny?”

Jaemin doesn’t think much about it before nodding. “Yeah, why? You don’t?” He questions, brows furrowing.

The shape Donghyuck’s lips take is one that makes Na Jaemin squirm in the ripped faux-leather embellished McDonald’s booth they’re all seated in. He’s witnessed this exact expression before, and at the time it was funny because it wasn’t _him_ the feral stare was directed at but now that there’s no one else Donghyuck could possibly be staring at in this nearly-abandoned fast-food joint on a late Tuesday night other than the slightly unsettling Ronald McDonald statue behind him, fear starts to ebb its way down Jaemin’s spine. He gulps.

“Jaemin,” Mark starts carefully, as if he’s speaking to a wild animal with food in his hand and is trying to not get attacked with just the will of soft words behind him, “no one thinks Jeno is funny. Not even I laugh at his jokes.” It’s silent for a moment as Jaemin soaks in this information.

Mark Lee, resident nice guy who pretends to be amused at literally anything anyone ever says so as to avoid hurting the entire human population’s feelings doesn’t think Lee Jeno is funny? Mark Lee, who’s laughed at _all_ of Donghyuck’s terrible jokes since they were thirteen doesn’t think Jaemin’s roommate is even the least bit hilarious? Mark Lee, who’s known around campus for having the laugh of a broken chew-toy because he does it so much and so loudly doesn’t think not even _one_ of Jeno’s puns are funny?

“No way! Now _you’re_ shitting me. Jeno’s food puns _are_ funny don’t even lie to yourselves.”

Donghyuck rolls his eyes. “We aren’t the ones lying to ourselves, Nana. The dude just isn’t funny. He’s about as much of a bag of laughs as I am on a Monday morning.”

“Which means he’s not a bag of laughs at all,” Mark helpfully adds, the corners of his mouth twitching as Donghyuck chortles beside him.

Jaemin wrinkles his nose in distaste but chooses to ignore the sickeningly adorable display before his eyes. “Yeah, no shit,” mumbles Jaemin, leaning back in the booth sullenly. He exhales sharply, feeling much more annoyed than when they’d entered the rat hole thirty minutes’ prior which wasn’t surprising at all because Donghyuck and Mark together always managed a way to get under his skin after an extended amount of time. “What does me thinking Jeno’s funny have to do with anything? You think Johnny’s jokes are funny and no one else does but that doesn’t mean anything, now does it?”

“Listen, this isn’t about _me_ , this is about you and your bland taste in dudes,” Mark counters, cutting his eyes. Johnny was always a sore subject to the Canadian seeing as how the two were basically brothers separated at birth or whatever.

Jaemin scoffs. “Jeno isn’t bland, you assholes,” he barks, suddenly more angry than annoyed with their usual harmless teasing. “He may be a lot of things: a nerd, a math major, a morning person, and an extreme introvert who hates leaving the dorm for more than classes and food but he isn’t _bland_ , okay? God, I don’t even know why you both care so much; it’s not like he’s _your_ roommate. I mean, I don’t talk shit about Chenle or Renjun but do you guys take my kindness into consideration? _No_ because you’re both douchebags who don’t know when to shut up. You know what? I think we’re done for the night; I’m out.”

The whole time he’d been ranting, Jaemin was too busy shoving his windbreaker back on his body to look up and see the looks of pure delight on his friends’ faces but now as he zips up his jacket and wipes of spare crumbs from his now-devoured nuggets, he comes face to face with the identical smirk Mark and Donghyuck sport.

Tonight, Mark’s usually curly blonde hair is flat against his forehead and he’s dressed warmly in an old soccer t-shirt from their senior year in high school. Donghyuck’s outfit is similar to his other halves’; his form is fitted in a white short-sleeve blood drive shirt with a dopey looking blood drop grinning on his chest. If Jaemin were anyone but himself he’d probably think they look like two good-looking guys on a late-night food run to take a break from studying but because Jaemin _is_ himself he knows that the brats seated next to one another are much more than pretty faces in ratty college kid clothes; they’re demons.

“What? Do I have something on my face? Or did you not understand me because I don’t speak asshole?” Jaemin snaps, not enjoying the happy grins on the couples’ faces at all. Neither of them say a word so Jaemin ignores their gawking and fishes his phone from his pocket. As expected, he has a text from Jeno.

**To: Jaemin**

**From: Jaemin**

_Hey, are you coming back tonight? I’m about to go to sleep but I’ll keep the lights on for you, if you want._

A blush creeps up Jaemin’s neck as he reads the text, feeling embarrassed by how endeared he is by it. It’s just like Jeno to be considerate enough to ask him where he is before he sleeps. _What an angel._

**To: Jeno**

**From: Jaemin**

_im on my way back rn!! u can just leave the lights on bc ill be there in less than 10 minutes. im trying to ditch hyuck as i type lmao_

Donghyuck coughs dramatically into his elbow, diverting Jaemin’s attention from his phone. “Who you talking to over there, Chatty Cathy?”

Jaemin locks his phone and slides out of the booth. “None of your damn business, Nancy Drew.” Before Mark can open his mouth to attempt to keep the peace, Jaemin’s phone dings again and he instinctively reads the message lighting up his lock screen.

**To: Jaemin**

**From: Jeno**

_Oh, okay. Good luck with that! I’ll see you then. :^)_

Jaemin can’t help but laugh out loud at Jeno’s choice of emoticons when he knows the other most definitely has an iPhone and just chooses to ignore modern emojis. He almost pockets his phone again without replying but then remembers that Jeno’d more than likely been studying all night because unlike Jaemin, Jeno actually cared his grades, and knowing Jeno, he had more than likely also forgotten to eat. _Jeno Lee’s not skipping a meal on my watch, no sir._

**To: Jeno**

**From: Jaemin**

_ok! have u eaten yet? :)))))))))_

**To: Jaemin**

**From: Jeno**

_Haha, you know me so well. I had some coffee earlier if that counts?_

Jaemin groans, shaking his head.

**To: Jeno**

**From: Jaemin**

_dont fall asleep before i get back then im bringing u a happy meal ok??? i hope u like nuggets!_

Although he knows for a fact that Jeno always orders chicken nuggets when he goes to McDonalds, Jaemin added that last part to play it cool. He quickly locks his phone and shoves it in his sweatpants so he doesn’t have to read the “please don’t get me anything” text Jeno will send in response.

He wheels around to order Jeno’s meal when Donghyuck, who he’d forgotten was still there, asks, “What are you doing? I thought you were leaving to go change your piss baby diaper.” Mark must’ve elbowed him again because the next thing Jaemin hears is an “ _Ow_! What the hell, Mark Lee? That hurts like hell, y’know,” from behind him.

Jaemin ignores the childish pair and continues his journey to the counter where he calmly orders and waits for Jeno’s Happy Meal all in under ten minutes. After saying a polite goodnight to the worker who hands him the food, he turns around to exit the restaurant with Mark and Donghyuck who are unsurprisingly still waiting on him despite his previous outburst in defense of Jeno; they’d all carpooled in Jaemin’s piece of shit Jeep and they had no other way of getting back to the dorms without him.

After a five-minute drive filled with Donghyuck’s ramblings about an upcoming biology quiz he wasn’t prepared for and Mark’s endless fiddling with the radio despite them being in _Jaemin’s_ car, the three boys finally arrive back to the dormitory building in one piece. Jaemin still hadn’t bothered checking his phone but he had felt the familiar vibration within his pocket as he parked and practically ran indoors with the other two to get out of the frosty weather as fast as humanly possible, Happy Meal in hand.

Once they’re indoors and in the stairwell, Mark bids Jaemin and Donghyuck goodnight with a sheepish grin on the second floor. After he’s gone, the latter pair trek up to the fourth floor where they both stay, down the hall from one another. It’s a comfortable silence that envelops them as they shuffle up the stairs and onto their floor; Donghyuck’s room is the second closest to the stairwell and like the polite friend he is, Jaemin stops outside the elder’s door to make sure he gets inside safely before moving to his own place a few feet away.

Donghyuck unlocks the door with one swift click and Jaemin starts to say the usual goodnight in parting but Donghyuck stops him before the words can even come out, grinning eerily for the second time that night. “Good luck and good night, Jaeminnie. Text me in the morning!” And with that, he shuts the door in Jaemin’s face, leaving him alone in the hallway.

“Goodnight to you, too, prick,” Jaemin grumbles under his breath, deciding not to think too much about Donghyuck and his cryptic speech. _I’m too tired for this shit._ Putting Donghyuck’s creepy face behind him metaphorically and physically, Jaemin pads to his apartment in under a minute only to find that just as Jeno had promised, there’s a soft glow emitting from under their front door. Jaemin smiles to himself, jiggling his key in the knob, then swinging it open as quietly as possible.

He need not have worried about causing too much commotion because after placing the oh-so sacred Happy Meal on the kitchen counter and shucking off his shoes, Jeno appears from inside their shared room clad in a pair of blue flannel pajama bottoms and a plain white t-shirt. His glasses are perched on his nose in a way that makes him look like an elementary school librarian and his freshly-dyed caramel hair is a floppy mess across his forehead. Overall, Jaemin thinks he looks perfect even if it is close to twelve on a bitter Tuesday night.

Jaemin grins the second Jeno walks out, waving enthusiastically in greeting as if they haven’t been roommates for two years now and only met last month. Still, he’s excited to give Jeno his Happy Meal if not for the toy then at least for the knowledge that he Jeno had at least one decent meal today.

“I told you you didn’t have to get me anything,” is the first thing Jeno says as he leans on the counter with his elbows, peering up at Jaemin; he does this a lot, pretending to be annoyed at Jaemin for taking care of him, but Jaemin knows better than to listen to Jeno’s weak protests and fake disapproving glares.

Jaemin smiles back at the elder, shrugging nonchalantly. “I know, but I wanted to.”

Jeno takes off the glasses that were slipping further and further down the slope of his nose and places them on the counter beside his food. “Well, thank you, Jaemin. I appreciate it.” He admits, making eye contact with Jaemin for a second, grinning, then turning his attention to the small red box in front of him. He easily opens it up, placing the tiny box of nuggets, fries, a Moana toy, and a bottle of milk beside his glasses. “Want a nugget?”

Jaemin shakes his head. “Nah, I’m good. I already ate when I was third-wheeling Mark and Donghyuck.”

Jeno nods, laughing. “I thought you said you were done crashing their dates, though.” He pops a fry in his mouth with actual grace, making Donghyuck seem like one thousand percent more of a slob than Jaemin already imagined him to be. _French fries were put on this earth for Jeno to consume_ , he thinks, watching Jeno eat and simultaneously make fun of him in that soft way he always does that makes you feel like you’re being laughed with, not at.

“I _thought_ I was but then Mark mentioned McDonalds after class and then I was craving their soggy ass fries before I could stop myself so, long story short, I decided tagging along _one_ more time wouldn’t hurt. Plus, they’re not even technically together so it would be weird for me to start skipping out all of a sudden for no reason,” Jaemin replies, leaning his back on the counter and crossing his arms.

What Jeno said was right; he’s supposed to be trying to cut back on always hanging out with Mark and Donghyuck so they can have more alone time and realize how crazily in love with each other they are but that’s easier said than done when they’ve been an inseparable pack since middle school. Jaemin is, without a doubt, a social butterfly, but that doesn’t mean he’s not particular with who he spends all his waking hours with. Mark and Donghyuck have always been there and Jisung’s usually around when he seeks him out first but there’s no one else Jaemin can see himself running to a shitty fast food place after class with in the middle of the week. As much as he hates to admit it, he’s kind of dependent on the dynamic duo from hell.

“Tell them you have to go on a date of your own whenever they try to invite you places,” suggests Jeno, taking a sip from a water bottle Jaemin hadn’t seen him carry in.

Jaemin chokes on nothing, then cackles, throwing his head back in the process. “Yeah, as if! Me, Na Jaemin, getting a date _that_ fast? C’mon, Jeno Lee, you know me better than that. The terrible two are going to ask me to play mom when they go to the library tomorrow night as soon as lunch, I swear by it. What am I supposed to do, get on Christian Mingle?” He wipes invisible tears from his eyes for more dramatic effect.

“Don’t you have a fan club around campus or something? Ask one of the girls who follows you to class every day; there, problem solved.”

“I’m _gay_ , Jeno. Mark and Donghyuck and literally everyone on the planet already know that!”

Jeno munches on another fry. “My bad? Look, what I’m saying is you’re making a big deal out of this for nothing. It’s literally so easy to get a date if you just try.” His tone suggests he knows something Jaemin doesn’t and the younger boy is really starting to regret luring the math major out of his room so late at night.

“Easy for you to say. You’re, like, the prettiest dude on campus. I’m sure you have chicks and dudes lined up to carry your big ass textbooks for you to and from class,” Jaemin spiels, trying to not sound too jealous.

Jeno stops eating, laughing again. “Oh, so _the_ Na Jaemin thinks _I’m_ pretty? I’m honored, your highness, really,” he teases. His eyes have grown rounder as he displays his mock-surprise to being called pretty. Jeno knows good and well just how attractive he is; is it really a secret that Jaemin thinks he’s just as handsome as the rest of the general population does?

“Shut up, you’re ugly and I hate you,” Jaemin huffs, resisting the urge to laugh. Now he _really_ regrets buying that godforsaken Happy Meal. _Why do none of my friends love me and why is Lee Jeno always making my life so goddamn miserable?_

Jeno hold his hands over his heart, feigning hurt. “You hate me? Well that’s too bad, I guess,” he exhales deeply. “I mean, I was going to offer to take you out whenever Mark or Donghyuck attempt to make you play kindergarten monitor on their not-dates but if you really hate me, then we can forget this conversation ever happened.”

For a split second, Jaemin doesn’t think he’s heard him right. In the entire two years of knowing one another, Jeno has never, ever expressed even the smallest amount of interest in Jaemin, romantically speaking.

“What?” Jaemin sputters gracefully, at a total loss for words.

Appearing to lose an ounce of the previous confidence he’d just had, Jeno grins abashedly. His hair has the illusion of glowing under the harshness of the kitchen’s lighting, making him out to be more of an Jaemin originally thought. “I mean it. I was going to ask you if it’d be okay if we…went out? While Mark and Donghyuck get their shit together…Only if you want to, though! It’s totally okay if you say no, I under-”

“Wait, no! I’d love to!” Jaemin all but shouts, cutting Jeno off. In an attempt to recover his dignity, he begins to fake a sudden itch in his throat once he realizes just how much of himself he’d exposed by jumping the gun. “I mean, yeah. That sounds great. Um, thank you.”

Jeno, equally as awkward rubs the back of his neck. “You’re welcome, I think?” He chuckles, attempting to find the right words to say. “But also thank you, too, for the Happy Meal? Again.”

“You’re welcome… Again?”

The air grows more and more awkward the longer they stand there staring at one another and in a pitiful attempt to clear the tension, Jeno asks a question Jaemin isn’t too keen on hearing. He averts his eyes from Jaemin back to the now-cold box of nuggets abandoned on the counter. “You sure you don’t want a nugget?”

To be honest, Jaemin doesn’t want a lukewarm chicken nugget; he’d already eaten less than an hour ago and he hates nothing more than cold meat but this is _Jeno_ asking and what’s one lump of pink goo against their blossoming love?

Wordlessly, Jaemin shrugs and pushes himself off the counter. He reaches out and takes the suspiciously light cardboard box in his hands before flipping its lid to find what he really should’ve expected: not a nugget in sight. Not even resisting the urge to roll his eyes, he does so and glances back over at Jeno who’s silently laughing; eyes crinkled in pure amusement, one hand covering his mouth to muffle the sound of his juvenile giggling and the other finding support on the edge of the counter.

Noticing Jaemin’s sideways leering, Jeno drops the hand cupping his lips and grins widely, exposing two rows of annoyingly white teeth (with all the coffee he drinks, Jaemin thinks his teeth should at least be a _little_ bit stained, for God’s sake.) “Gotcha!” he blurts, still strangely pretty underneath the shoddy apartment lights and in front of hideous kitchen dorm décor.

Jaemin puffs his cheeks in a pout, eyes still cut towards his newfound date-mate. “I’m going to bed now.”

Jeno stops laughing and mimics Jaemin’s expression. “Aw, Nana, don’t be such a spoil sport. If you go to bed now who’s going to text Donghyuck and tell him he has to go get his own boyfriend now?” Jaemin’s pout breaks as he cackles because _shit_ that was a drag if he’s ever fucking heard one. Donghyuck and Mark were now on their own; Jaemin almost feels the urge to wipe his eyes. _They grow up so fast._

“He’ll figure it out soon enough when I start not showing up to plans I promised I’d go to,” Jaemin figures, smiling mischievously. He finally sets the chicken nugget box down and slides towards Jeno with the help of their tiled floor and his mismatched Whooper and Jigglypuff socks. As soon as he’s close enough to get a hold of him, he pulls Jeno closer into a hug, clinging to him not unlike a baby koala to its mother. “Now can we go to bed? I have class tomorrow and the last thing I care about is Donghyuck and his miserable love life.”

Jaemin can’t see Jeno when his head’s stuck in the crook of the older’s neck but he can feel him nod. “Fine. But you’re turning off all the lights since you were the last one in,” he declares, detaching a whiny Jaemin from his front. “You’re nineteen, not nine, Jaemin, c’mon,” is what he says next, but he’s laughing fondly; Jaemin’s heart flops in his chest at the sound.

“Alright, alright. But you’re tucking me in after I get into my pajamas.”

Jeno rolls his eyes for probably the fourth time since Jaemin got home. “ _Seriously_? Am I your nanny or your boyfriend?”

“Well, _technically_ you’re only my roommate because you never actually asked me to be your boyfriend so-” Jeno groans and shoves Jaemin lightly towards the light panel and away from him. He’s shaking his head as he turns around and walks towards their bedroom, muttering under his breath. “Wait, so are you not going to ask me to be your boyfriend? Because that’s kind of how this works-”

“Shut up and turn the lights off, Jaemin. I’m not asking you anything until you stop talking and get into your pajamas.” Needless to say, Jaemin had never shut off the lights and showered as quickly as he did that night.

Down the hall, Lee Donghyuck falls asleep with an impish smile on his face.

**Author's Note:**

> comments nd kudos are always welcome!!!!!1
> 
> twt + curious cat: m4rk1ee


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